


A Thousand Colours

by ToothPasteCanyon (DannyFenton123)



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Alternate Universe - Transcendence (Gravity Falls), Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-14
Updated: 2018-10-14
Packaged: 2019-08-01 17:33:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16288856
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DannyFenton123/pseuds/ToothPasteCanyon
Summary: The Sun dies away in a spectacular planetary nebula. Alcor is reminded of a snowier, happier day.





	A Thousand Colours

                It was a spectacular display. A thousand colours drifted across the horizon, more blues and greens and yellows than could possibly be imagined. The skies, usually black and starry and clear, were shrouded in these rainbow clouds. They shimmered as they drifted past, deceptively fast, burning hot enough to incinerate anyone watching from within. But to Alcor, they felt cold. They reminded him of

 

* * *

 

                A cold winter day in Gravity Falls. The skies were clear as ice, the snow was crisp on the ground, and Mabel was currently bundling up her children for a big family day out in the park.

                At least, she was trying to. There was a lot of effort involved in getting three four year olds to sit still enough to do, well, anything.

                “Mom, I’m ready! Can we go now?”

                “One second, Acacia.”

                “One… okay! Can we go now?”

                “Mom, Hank stole my special glove!”

                “I didn’t steal it! Mom, you gave me the wrong glove!”

                “It’s been a second, Mom! Now it’s two seconds. Now it’s three seconds! Mom!”

                “Alright, alright!” Mabel held her hands up. “Sheesh, you guys are raring to go, aren’t you?”

                “I want to play in the snow,” Acacia mumbled, her face pressed up against the door. “This is taking sooooo long.”

                Willow suddenly started sobbing.

                “Willow, sweetie, what’s wrong? Why’s your glove on the ground?”

                “I threw it there.” Hank said. Her sobbing got a little louder.

                “Why?”

                “She didn’t want me to have it. I need my glove. Where’s my glove!”

                “Mooom, let’s go! Let’s go let’s go let’s go-”

                Mabel looked… a little flustered, to say the least. Alcor took one look at her face and leaned in. “Hey, do you want me to take Acacia outside while you sort out the other two?”

                “Yes! Yes, that would be amazing.”

                “Alright.” He floated over to Acacia, who was drawing on the glass fog. “Hey, are you ready for snow?”

                Acacia looked at him with a very serious expression. “I was born ready.”

                Alcor chucked. “Yep, pretty much. You’ve got boots, coat, hat-“

                “Yesss, now can I go? Can you phase me through the door?”

                “I don’t see why not.”

                Mabel gave him a thumbs up as he picked Acacia up by the shoulders. “You’re a lifesaver, bro bro!”

                He returned the gesture, and then floated them through the door. Almost as soon as they were on the other side, Acacia charged towards the deepest pile of snow and launched herself face first into it. She rose a second later, making a face and spitting at the ground.

                “Eughh, eughh, snow in my mouth. It’s cold!”

                “Yup. It’s snow.”

                “Why’s snow so cold, Uncle Alcor?”

                Alcor smiled. Unlike some of the wilder questions the niblings asked, he actually knew this one. “Well, you see, snow is frozen water. It’s like when you put something in the freezer and it, well, it freezes. It's fascinating, actually. The particles in water actually slow down the colder it gets, and absolute zero-“

                He suddenly caught a snowball to the face; the unexpected force made him yelp and sent him spinning away.

                “Ha ha! I hit you with particles!”

                Alcor righted himself just in time to dodge another snowball. He felt a grin stretch across his face. “Oh, it’s on!”

                Acacia shrieked with delight as he moved towards her; she threw herself into another pit of snow and kicked it up in his face. He dramatically feigned death, and she jumped on top of him with as much snow as she could carry in her little gloves.

                “Aaaaand-“ She dumped it on his face. “Got you!”

                “Yeah, you got me. Phteh, snow in my mouth.”

                “Help me build a snowman, Alcor!”

                He sat up. “Hey, I think we’re walking to the park as soon as your mom comes out. We’ll build a snowman there, okay?”

                “Do you promise?”

                Alcor winked. “I’d shake on it.”

                “Oh… okay.” She started making another snowball. “Can I beat you again?”

                 “You can try. Maybe I won’t be so easy this time!”

                They tussled in the snow until the door opened. Mabel, Hank, and a red-faced Willow emerged from the Shack.

                “Alright!” Mabel clapped her hands. “Who’s ready for snow!”

                The triplets shrieked and cheered, and

               

* * *

 

                Alcor stepped out of the Mystery Shack and onto the path. Only the Mystery Shack wasn’t there, and the path was only in his memories. All was gone, and all was quiet.

                He stepped out onto hot, bubbling magma. It hissed and spat underneath his black dress shoes. It was strange to walk on; squishy, like a balloon.

                So strange and unfamiliar. There was nothing to recognize on this long path he walked. No trees. No snow. No people walking beside him, and none hoisted up on his shoulders, pulling at branches and making faces at cars as they trundled past.

                Alcor kept walking. He kept looking up at the sky, at a thousand colours that caught the light and shimmered like snowflakes. Ionised gas and ultraviolet radiation drifted past the remains of the Earth, and he couldn’t help but marvel as they streamed across the sky. The death of the sun was more beautiful than he could ever have imagined.

                If somebody had been sitting on his shoulders, they might have pointed at it. “What’s that, Uncle Alcor?” They might have said.

                And he’d smile, because he knew this one.

 

* * *

 

                “Hey, you’re back!” Mabel made a face as she saw his expression. “Bad summons?”

                Alcor nodded. She patted his shoulder.

                “Come on. Into the snow fort with you. Kids!”

                Three little faces popped up from behind a vaguely rectangular mound of snow.

                “This dork needs cheering up!” She shoved him towards the triplets. “Go shove some snow in his face. He’ll love it.”

                They jumped up and led him over to their fort. Alcor couldn’t help but notice Henry was buried at the base, his face and legs sticking out a long ways from either side. He grinned.

                “They got you, huh?”

                Henry shrugged, and the fort trembled.

                “Don’t move, Dad!”

                Willow looked up at Alcor. “Do you like our fort?”

                “Yeah! It looks great, guys.”  
                “I made the flag.” Hank pointed at a twig sticking out of the top. A little sock was draped on the end.

                “That’s cool, Hank, but I don’t think you should take off your sock. It’s cold.”

                “It’s not my sock. It’s Acacia’s.”

                “I made the sides!” Willow lifted up her hands, and let them catch with blue fire. “I can make the sides all hard so they don’t fall over!”

                “Hey, nice one Willow! That’s really smart.”

                “I made those!” Acacia pointed at the snow angel to the right of the fort. “There’s soooo much snow here! Are you gonna make a snowman now?”

                Alcor smiled. “I did promise, didn’t I?”

                “You did!” She started taking off her scarf. “I’ll give you the clothes, you make the snowman!”

                “Hold on, now. You’re gonna get cold.” Alcor reached into the air, and pulled a silky blue scarf into the visible plane. “I can handle the clothes.”

                The triplets ooh’ed and ahh’ed.

                “And I – ugh - can handle the snow!” Behind them, Mabel lifted a giant ball of snow into the air. “I am the snowmaster!”

                Henry cringed. “Careful, dear.”

                “Oh, you worrywart. Come on, kids! We need two more snowman parts!”

                The kids started slapping snow on the top, and sometimes on each other. It devolved into another snowball fight, and Mabel and Alcor found themselves crouching behind the Henry fort, with the kids huddled behind the snowman. Mabel grinned at him.

                “Oh, no!” She said loudly as she watched Acacia try and sneak up them. “I can’t see the kids at all! They must be invisible.”

                Acacia giggled.

                “Wait, there she is! C’mon, bro!”

                They ran towards Acacia with snowballs in hand, and she shrieked and ran back to the snowman just as Willow and Hank popped up and started pelting snow back at them. Alcor remembered the smile on his face, and the bright, crisp, white snow, and Mabel’s happy laugh in his ears.

 

* * *

 

                Alcor remembered later that night, when the stars were out and the kids were asleep. He remembered standing out on the porch with Mabel, and a dying campfire out in the yard, embers and smoke and the sticky smell of marshmallows and a day well spent.

                “You want to talk about that summons?” She said. Alcor shrugged.

                “No, I’m okay.” When she gave him a look, he held his arms up. “No, I really am okay! I’ve mostly forgotten about it.”

                “Alright, goober. As long as you’re really super okay.”

                “I really am.” Alcor said, and linked arms with her. He looked up at the clear night sky. “I had fun today, especially with the snowball fight.”

                “Haha, that was _awesome_.”

                “Yeah, it was. No, I’m doing okay. As long as I’ve got you guys, I’ll be okay.”

                Alcor looked up at the sky now. So many colours of the rainbow; Mabel would have killed to see this. And the dying fire was bubbling lava under his feet now, and the trees had long burned away, and the kids were gone, and he was holding only the memory of a hand.

                And Alcor stood beneath a thousand colours, alone.


End file.
